A physical space where Canadians are not only reminded of the story of Chanie, but start thinking of how we can move the ball forward on reconciliation.
Our school teacher-librarian, Joann Coccia, was an early and enthusiastic supporter of this venture. Ideas were generated. Concepts were conceived. Resources were discovered. Budgets were struck. Brenda Rivers, a local Elder, gave the students cultural advice and recommendations. This thing was becoming real. Then we ran into an issue: the visuals, graphics, and design of each of these walls were grand and sophisticated, but the artistic talents of my Civics students (not to mention my own artistic abilities) were… lacking. How were we to make our concepts come alive? Enter Louise LeClair, the art teacher at our school. She too was beginning contemplation of a culminating task for her students. She suggested we have our students work together. My students would explain to hers the ideas they wanted communicated, the concepts they wanted generated, and the students from the art class would make them visual. The students consulted and collaborated. They argued and agreed. They fought and found reconciliation. The room came together. The “pre-contact” wall includes the symbol of the medicine wheel. It contains rocks painted with the seven grandfather teachings. It has a smudging bowl along with bundles of the four medicines. It has sketches of typical housing structures indigenous to the area and a model of a birch bark canoe. The “post-contact/colonization” wall is dominated by a Native Canadian flag designed by Kwakwaka’wakw artist Curtis Wilson, with the red of the flag overlaid with an Aboriginal design. Beneath it are the words “We are all Treaty People.” One side of the flag highlights how Indigenous peoples aided the first settlers, and includes a symbolic wampum belt. On the other side are quotations by Duncan Campbell Scott and Sir John A. Macdonald outlining the plan and purpose for the “solution to the Indian problem,” including the establishment of residential schools. The “truth” wall is easily the most dominant. Scanning it from left-to-right, it begins with a somewhat abstract design of plantlike swirls and curls in fresh greens and blues. This colour scheme is soon overpowered by the black silhouette of the land mass we call Canada. From several points within this map – locations of actual residential schools – are stretched pieces of red twine that connect to quotations taken from the document, The Survivors Speak – A Report of The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Reading through these testimonies to select representations of the truth was not an easy task for my students, or for me. To the right of this dark cloud of Canada’s history spring the same abstract plant-like designs we began with, now in purples and violets, representing repentance, contrition, and reconciliation, in line with the symbology of the Catholic Church.
The “reconciliation” wall features a painting of a sturdy tree with several wide branches. The group who conceptualized this wall suggested that as each Grade 10 Civics class finishes learning about residential schools and the TRC Calls to Action, they go to the Grade 8 classes and teach them about these topics. The Grade 10s then give the Grade 8 students a green leaf of construction paper onto which they are invited to write their hopes for reconciliation. The leaves will then be posted onto the branches of the tree in the Legacy Room. One of the boys in this group also made a wooden keepsake box, so that as new Grade 8 leaves replace the old, the old can be preserved and “become a part of our history,” thus replacing the shame of this dark history and becoming our legacy. To say this project has been a highlight of my career would be an understatement. The room was officially opened with a smudging ceremony presided over by Elder Rivers. It is used regularly as a study and meeting space, and as a teaching tool for History, World Religions, Civics, and English classes. It was used during Orange Shirt Day and Treaty Recognition Week. Thank you to Tammy, Louise, Joann, and Elder Rivers. And thank you to my students for the gift that this project has been.
Reconciliation is about establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in this country. In order for this to happen, there has to be: • Awareness of the past; • Acknowledgement of the harm that has been inflicted; • Atonement for the causes; and, • Action to change behavior. - From the Introduction of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada.
Mike Hamilton is a teacher at St. Francis Xavier Catholic High School in Hammond, and a member of OECTA’s Eastern Ontario Unit.
MAY 2019 | CATHOLIC TEACHER 25